In an edition of the The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, Steve Schott, Director of Business Development at Round Table Group, provides a thorough explanation detailing how expert witness referral firms conduct "customized expert witness searches" for their clients. These searches go beyond a mere proprietary database search and are specifically tailored to the facts of each case. Further, such searches tend to yield experts who are "true experts," leaders in their respective fields whose distinction goes far beyond just being an expert witness.

The Arizona Supreme Court upheld a 2005 state law requiring that any expert witness seeking to testify against a doctor in a medical malpractice case be licensed as a health care provider and be a specialist in the same area as the defendant. The expert must also be actively practicing or teaching in that particular field. The law essentially limits the use of "professional expert witnesses," who critics contend unfairly sway juries even though they may not have specific expertise in the field in issue.